October 18, 2012

Custom Built Pizza

I was born and raised in Chicago so I tend to be biased when it comes to pizza, however I can appreciate the various styles as long as they are done well.
The positive reviews on Yelp led me to Custom Built Pizza. I was skeptical, but I loved the idea and just had to try it. You walk up and select your crust, sauce, cheese and toppings. You're not nickel and dimed for every topping either. And the options are endless and fresh.
Overwhelmed by all the possibilities, I went with the classic 1889 Pizza Margherita ($7.95). It was loaded up and baked for a few short minutes. I paid my tab and was digging in while it was still piping hot. This didn't compare to those in I had in Italy, but compared to those locally and in NY this was top notch. Who knew? Someone with this brilliant idea, apparently.
My brother joined me on this visit. He had the spicy diavola mixed with the crushed tomato sauce the blend had a nice kick without overpowering the other ingredients. He went to town and chose a smorgasbord of meats and veggies ($8.95). We shared slices and his creation was quite delicious and I was most impressed that the crust held the toppings. No grimaldi's pizza I've had has been able to do this, few NY styles have. Even those I had in Naples got soggy and limp. Dine in to maintain the crisp sturdy crust.
Fresh. Quick. Tasty. Affordable.
So much so, not even a week later, I was craving the diavola sauce. My brother and I returned to Custom Built Pizza. This time I had the diavola blended with crush tomato sauce and topped with buffalo and shredded mozzarella, basil, fresh tomatoes, artichokes and roasted onions. It was a bit too cheesy and the crust weakened as a result. It was still really tasty, but I missed that crisp texture. But that's part of the fun, you make tweaks to perfect you're custom pizza.
Mike blended sauces again and tried every cheese. The gorgonzola wasn't too overpowering, it was a nice surprise. He topped his pizza with a variety of meat and roasted onions.
These Neopolitan style pies are mighty addicting. I noticed yesterday they have a fresh selection of salads. If I'm not too temped by the pizza I'll have to try one of those soon. The S'mores dessert pizza looks pretty scrumptious too.